Love Always Knows
by OurSong
Summary: Quil and Claire never meet when she was two. When she is six her mom and little brother die. Claire moves back to La Push. Full summary inside. Quil X Claire. ***HIATUS***
1. First Look

**This story has been in my head since before Breaking Dawn came out, so I'm going to disregard the things that happened in it. Just so everyone knows in this story Jacob imprints on a nice human girl named Kaira, and Edward and Bella go get married. Bella turns into a vampire and they live happily ever after.**

**Story Summary: Claire and Quil never met when she was two. When Claire is six her mother, Helen, and little brother, Stephen, die in a car accident. Tyler, Claire's dad, can't handle things emotionally, and Emily is able to convince him to move to La Push. Tyler travels all of the time for his job so it really doesn't matter where his house is. Quil had been looking for someone to rent the upper stories of his house since he only lives in the basement, so that is what Tyler is planning to do.**

Two Weeks after the Funeral

Emily's POV

I went to check on Claire in the living room. I was especially nervous about today when it came to Claire. Since the funeral she has been staying here while her and Tyler's things have been moved into the house. Sam and I have been keeping the pack away, but Sam convinced me that it is time from her to meet them. I finally agreed when he said that we would start with having her meet just one at a time.

I also made Sam promise that he would make sure to tell everyone how important it was that they do _not _touch her. Claire use to be all a talking smiling bundle of joy that was full of hugs, but since her mom died she has done a complete 180. The only words that I have heard come out of her mouth are "yes" or "no." She also hates to be touched now. I think that the only physical contact that she has allowed was holding her dad's hand during the funeral, and I haven't seen her smile once.

Claire was still sitting in the same spot she had been before when I had last checked on her. She had her legs crossed and the book that she was reading on her lap. The whole time that she has been here, she has not gone anywhere without at least one book. I don't think that it is quite normal for someone who is six to read as much as she does, but maybe that is her way of coping with all of the changes that are happening.

I think that the first person that is coming to see Claire is Quil. He was on the mid day/afternoon patrol today. I didn't think that he would be done until about eight tonight and that wouldn't be for at least and half hour so I went to take a shower.

I walked down the steps after my shower. I heard a little voice talking. It was a voice that I had not heard in a long time. I walked into the living room slowly, not sure if I really was hearing what I thought. What I saw was shocking. Claire was still sitting where she had been when I had left her, but now her whole demeanor had changed. You could see that her eyes were slightly brighter than normal through her bangs as she read from her book. There was a little smile on her face as she read, and her body looked relaxed, not tense. Flowing out of her lips was her sweet wonderful voice. She was reading her story out loud to none other than Quil. Claire wasn't the only thing that left me in shock. Quil was sitting on the floor is eyes wide, his mouth in a small smile and his full attention on Claire.

I wasn't really sure what to do because I hadn't seen Claire this happy since her mom died, but I realized that Quil must have imprinted on my six year old niece. Claire finished her story, and she look up at Quil. "Did you like it?" She asked him.

"I loved it. Do you want to read it again to me?" He replied.

"No," Quil's face looked distressed when she declined, but then she went on, "I have some better ones that you'll probably like more. Wait right there." Claire got up and left the room. She passed me in the doorway with a look of determination on her face. As she passed me she did not look like she even registered the fact that I was there.

I walked into the room and Quil had a dazed look on his face. "Quil do you know what is going on?" I asked.

"Did I just imprint?" He asked me.

"I think that you did."

"Emily what am I suppose to do she's so little and sad?" He asked, worry etched all over his face.

"I think that I better call Sam, and have him come home early from work." Quil nodded.

Claire came walking back into the room. She wasn't grinning like she use to, but she still had more of a smile on her face than I have seen in days. This time instead of sitting on the couch she sat down in front of Quil on the floor. She was holding a book with a wolf and a little girl on the front. She began reading away. The story was about a little girl who got lost in the wilderness and wolves brought her into their pack and helped her survive. (A/N This idea is from Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George.)

At the end of the story Quil tore his eyes away from Claire's face. His eyes were questioning. He was wondering if she knew about the pack. I shook my head "no." I had talked to Sam in the past about telling Helen everything, but that had never happened, so there would be no way that Claire could possibly know anything.

Claire looked up at Quil. "Do you mind if I read to myself again for at least a little while?" She asked; she seemed worried that she might hurt his feelings if she stopped reading to him.

"Yeah, honey, that's fine, I think I have to go talk to Auntie Emily in the kitchen if that's all right with you," said Quil. She nodded before looking back down at her book.

Quil and I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Quil looked really worried. I grabbed the phone and called Jacob. "Hey Jake, it's Emily would you mind getting Sam. He is on night patrol, but it's kind of important so if you could find someone else that could do it, that would be great."

"Yah, Emily that's no problem." Jacob knew that I would only call for Sam when it was something that was really important. After I hung up Quil looked a little bit better because he knew that Sam was coming.

"Quil, how do you feel about all of this?"

"I don't know. She is so young and so sad. I want to make sure that she is happy and loved and safe. I feel love, but it doesn't feel like the love that I have seen through Sam, Jared, Paul, and Jacob when it comes to all of their imprints. This is all so different."

"Well I think that we should just wait for Sam to get back, and see what he thinks."

We just sat there looking at each other waiting for Sam to come home. Finally I heard him come through the door. He came into the kitchen. "What happened; did Quil scare Claire?" Sam asked. At even the mention of Claire being scared a grimace washed over Quil's face.

"No Sam, nothing like that; this is much more important..." I wasn't really sure if I should just come out and say it.

"Sam, we think that I might have imprinted on Claire," said Quil; not wanting to beat around the bush. Sam's eyes got wide and his mouth opened slightly. I don't think he really knew what to say. I don't know how long he stood there looking at Quil, but than Claire walked in from the living room and broke the silence.

"Auntie, I'm tired." I looked at the clock; it was already ten o'clock. Usually Claire would have been to sleep aleast a half hour ago.

"Alright honey. Do you need help getting ready for bed?"

"No, I'll be fine."

"Okay, come say goodnight when your all ready."

After she walked out, Sam turned and looked at me. "I think that's the first time that I've heard her voice." His voice expressed the shock that was covering his face.

"You should have heard her earlier. She was reading aloud to Quil." Both Quil and I grinned and the thought.

"Quil, we should go out. I want to see what's in your head," said Sam.

"Alright, but can we wait for Claire to come back and say goodnight?" Asked Quil. He looked as if he thought Sam might so no to him.

"Yah, that's fine."

We all just sat there waiting for Claire to come back downstairs. Finally she came back and stood in the doorway. She had a small smile on her face. Just the fact that she was actually smiling was amazing. I was so happy that she seemed even a little happier. I just hoped that it would last a while.

"Goodnight honey," said Sam.

"Goodnight," Claire said in reply. Sam face was shocked again; he was so use to her silence.

"Goodnight dear," I said.

"Goodnight."

Than she walked over to where Quil was sitting. He looked nervous, and not sure how to react to her. I'm sure that he remembered that I said that Claire didn't like to be touched, so he was probably struggling with himself, so he wouldn't do anything she didn't want him to do.

"Can you be here when I wake up?" Claire asked Quil.

"Of course I can," was his response.

Claire lifted up her hand, and placed it on his cheek. "Thank You," she whispered as she looked up at him through her bangs. She walked out of the room.

Both Sam and I looked at Quil. We had both experienced Claire's no touch policy first hand; yet here Quil was, someone she had just met a few short hours ago, and she was the one who initiated touching. Quil had put his hand up to his cheek.

"My little angel is so special." I heard him whisper.

"Quil, lets go talk the woods." Sam and Quil got up and went out the door. I was left there and mull over everything that had happened.

**A/N I went over anything, but if you see any grammatical or spelling errors please let me know.**

**Everything recognizable belongs to Stephanie Meyer, unless otherwise noted.**


	2. Talking

Quil's POV

Sam and I walked towards the woods. It felt like my mind was running on overtime. I was thinking about all things Claire. I was trying to think of a way that I could make sure that she was always happy. I also wanted to make sure that I could be there for her whenever she needed me; I needed a plan so she would never be to far away. I was thinking about how I could make sure that she was never alone. Even though she never said anything, I could tell that she didn't like to be completely alone. She always wanted someone at least a room away. I also wished that there was some way to have her mom and little brother come back. I could tell that their leaving her had left a huge whole in her center. Somehow I wanted to fill in that whole in with something.

Sam voice cut through my thoughts. "I think it might be a good idea if I change first and see if there is anyone there. I don't think that it would be good right now for a bunch of other thoughts that aren't yours to be going through your head. I'm sure that it'll be bad enough with just yours and mine." I nodded, only partly listening.

Sam went deeper into the woods, shedding his clothes as he walked. I was left standing there all my worries for Claire still whirling around in my head. Sam came back only moments later. He jerked his head back towards the woods, saying that it was okay for me to come.

I followed him in pulling off my clothes as I went. When I changed I began to run without even realizing it. At least a few of my worries were blown from my head when I did this. Sam caught up with me in a few seconds, and I could hear his thoughts.

He was looking through my memories of what had happened earlier in the evening. I'm sure that he had his own opinion on everything that had happened, but I didn't listen because I didn't want to be judged for what had happened.

Finally he was done looking at everything. _Quil it's time to stop._ He commanded, so I had to, otherwise I probably wouldn't have. I slowed down, and then laid down on the forest floor. Even though I had not done a lot today I felt mentally exhausted. I heard Sam thinking. I'm not sure if it was to me or just in general. _It's rather remarkable; so far everyone has met their imprint when they are either at or almost to adulthood. This on the other hand is so different. The feelings are of deep love, but not the kind of love that is shared by lovers. It is more like fatherly or brotherly love._ Then his thoughts turned to me. _You shouldn't feel bad about this. It's almost as if your heart is telling you what kind of love is needed at the time from the imprint. I've looked through the minds of all of the other wolves that have imprinted, and your thoughts are so different._ I felt relief flood over my body. I was not a some freak. Sam continued. _I think that we should be good for tonight. Let's go back to the house. I'll talk to Emily, and explain everything to her._ I nodded my head and we headed back.

When we walked into the house it was about 1 o'clock. The lights were still on in the kitchen, and I assumed that it was because Emily hadn't been able to sleep. I heard Emily get up from a chair in the kitchen and come meet us in the living room. The look on her face was not good. Before we had left she had seemed to be okay with everything, but it looked like after having some time to think about it she wasn't as happy as happy as she was to start with.

Before she could say anything to me Sam put a hand on her arm, and guided her into the kitchen. He turned to me and said quiet enough so Emily couldn't here. "Let me explain everything to her. You can just wait here while I talk to her." I nodded and sat down on one of the chairs in the room.

I blocked out as much of Sam and Emily's conversation as I could. Trying to avoid listening to them I turned my hearing to all of the small noises that were floating around the house. As I listened I heard something that I didn't remember hearing before when I was at their house. I listened closer and realized that I was breathing coming from upstairs. That was Claire, my little Claire sleeping softly upstairs. I became almost hypnotized by the sound. Suddenly there was an irregularity in the breathing, and a slight creak from the bed she was laying on. She must have woken up. I had told her earlier that I would be there when she woke up; I couldn't let her lose her trust in me. Without hesitation I bound up the stairs at werewolf speed and pushed open her door open softly, moving into the room slightly.

At the sound of the door creaking open she turned her head towards me, and whispered "Good, you're here; I thought you might have been lying earlier, like everyone else."

I was shocked by the strait-forwardness of her words. I walked the rest of the way in, and took a seat on the floor next to the bed. "Who else has lied to you?"

"Almost everyone, my dad, Auntie, and the people at the hospital. They all said that things would get better, back to normal. They haven't got normal. Mommy and Stevie are still gone, and I know they aren't coming back because once you go to heaven you don't come back. They left me here with Daddy, and Daddy didn't want to be with me. So, he left too. The only ones who want me are Auntie and Sam, and they don't understand."

"What don't they understand?"

"They think that things will get better, but how can things get better. Things will never be as good as they were before Mommy and Stevie left. I didn't think that they would even get a little bit better until _you_ came." I felt shock at her words.

"What do you mean 'until I came'?"

"Well when you came today I could feel something in my heart get fixed a little bit."

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I was so sad that Claire was feeling all of these horrible things. No six year-old should have to feel as if they have been left by the ones who loved them. At the same time I felt happiness because Claire felt a little bit of how we were connected. I wasn't really sure how to respond to this wonderful little girl; finally I decided that I would just have to go with it.

"Honey, I know how you feel. When I saw you today, I knew that you were going to be someone really special, and just meeting you made me feel really, really special. I don't know if I can really explain it right, but that's what happened."

She just looked at me for a few moments, and then a smile broke through her serious features. "I think I better go back to sleep now. Will you be here again when I wake up?"

"I'm really not sure, but I'll try my hardest to."

"Alright," was the only thing she said before turning over and going back to sleep.

Sitting there thinking, I realized that it was going to take a long time for Claire to heal with or without my help. After a while I got up and left the room. On the floor sitting next to the door was Emily. She looked up at me when I left Claire's room.

"Thank you."

"For what?" I asked confused.

"For being there for her; usually when she wakes up during the night it takes about an hour for her to go back to sleep. Just listening to her tell you all of those things is hard. I know it seems unbelievable after everything she's said today, but she really use to say 'yes' and 'no' whenever Sam or I talked to her. I really don't approve of you imprinting on my six year-old niece, Quil, but Sam explained things to me. I understand that you don't have inappropriate feelings for her, but it's still hard. At least after all I've seen today I know that you are something special to her; it's not just a one sided thing. I think that Claire will be able to grow up a lot happier now that you are involved in her life."

I really didn't know what to say to Emily. I was shocked that she was so ready for everything that was going to happen in the near future and the future way off. All I could really do is nod my head.

"We're going to have to discuss the finer details, but that is going to have to wait until tomorrow. Why don't you sleep downstairs, on either the couch or the chair. That way you can be here right away in the morning for Claire."

"Okay."

I went back downstairs. It took a while, but I finally dosed off into a light sleep. I wanted to be on the alert while I was sleeping, so if Claire woke up I would be there for her right away.

**Thanks Zak's-blood13 for the beta help.  
**


	3. Almost As Good As

Three weeks after Quil and Claire meet

Quil's POV

The day after I had met Claire, Sam, Emily and I discussed what we were going to do. Finally we decided that we were going to have to tell her dad what had happened. Emily said that it would be a good idea if I were to be hired as Claire's nanny. I loved the idea, but I was really worried about how Claire's Dad would feel about everything. I think my biggest fear, aside from something happening to Claire, was that Tyler would think I was some kind of a freak, and tell me that I wasn't allowed to see his daughter anymore. I knew truly that there really wasn't anyway he could really keep me away from her, but it would just be easier if he was okay with everything.

Since I had first met Claire I had spent every second of my free time with her. Whenever I left she always made me promise that I would come back before she went to sleep. I also made sure that I was always there whenever she woke up. The first time that she had hugged me had been a complete surprise. It was two days after we met, and I was telling her good night. She had motioned for me to come close. I wasn't expecting anything other than a whisper like she done the other times she wanted to tell me a secret. When I bent lower and put my ear by her mouth she whispered 'I love you', and then flung her arms around my neck. I was shocked at first; this was the first time I had been able to touch. After I got over my shock I put my arms around her and picked her up in a big wolf hug. I was completely lost in the moment because after a while I realized that she had gone to sleep in my arms. Since then she had fallen asleep in my lap at night, and then I would bring her to bed.

Tyler's was going to be flying into Seattle at about 11 this morning, and Sam was going to pick him up. I had talked to Claire a little about going with Sam to meet her dad at the airport, but she adamantly refused. I really didn't want to argue with her about it; especially since she felt betrayed by her dad for leaving her.

Claire and I went for a walk around one o'clock. Claire had actually been the one to suggest it. I think that even though she was only six she could tell that I was stressed about her dad coming, and I needed to be distracted in some way.

Claire always liked to ask questions when we went on walks, and today wasn't any different. "Do you think that there are a lot of wolves in the woods here?" She asked me.

"I don't know. Would it make you worried if there were?"

"No, wolves are special. They help protect the weak."

"Why do you think that?"

"Mom use to tell me stories about how there were people who could be wolves and then they would kill the things that would kill people. They never stop watching over the people to make sure everyone is safe." This was the first time Claire had talked about her mom since the first night I met her. I took it as a good sign that she was coping with everything. I also knew from the way Claire was acting she hadn't said everything that she had actually been thinking about. I kept walking beside her waiting for her to say the rest since with Claire patience is best.

After about five minutes she continued. "Do you think that if we had been where the wolves were mom and Stephen wouldn't had died?" My heart yearned to make her happy again.

"Honey it was your mom's and Stephen's time to go to heaven. It wouldn't have mattered where they were; it was there time to leave." I looked at her hoping she would understand what I was trying to say.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She said looking unhappy.

We kept walking, but I could tell that Claire was getting tired. "Is it all right if I carry you, Claire?" Even though Claire allowed me to touch her, I didn't do so unless I either asked or she was the one who initiated it. She just nodded her head her eyes a little droopy. I picked her up and began carrying her home. She snuggled into my sholder and sighed.

"Did you know that one good thing happened since it happened?" I just assumed that she was referring to her mom's death.

"What's that?" I asked curious.

"I got to meet you." The rest of the trip was silent, but my head was reeling. Claire actually thought that I was almost as good as her mom. I really didn't know what to think. I was unbelievably happy.

When we got back some of that happiness had faded away when I saw Sam's car parked in the driveway. Tyler was here!

**Thanks AmberGlow2 for the beta work.**


	4. What Will He Say?

Quil's POV

Claire had fallen asleep in my arms on the way back to the house. I went in through the back door, trying my best to avoid Claire's dad. I brought Claire up to her room and laid her down on the bed, setting the blankets over her small body. I went down the stairs slowly, trying to avoid the inevitable.

In the kitchen Sam, Emily, and Tyler sat at the table. When I entered they all looked up at me. "Tyler, this is the Quil. The person I was telling you about," said Emily.

Tyler looked up at me and smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," I replied.

"So, where's my little girl?" he asked me.

"Well…she fell asleep on the way back from our walk, so I put her up in her bed."

"Oh well, I guess I'll just have to see her when she wakes up."

I looked at Sam hoping he could see me trying to plead with him. I just wanted to get it over with, and have Tyler decide whether he is okay with everything or not. Sam could tell because a slight frown flashed across his face. "Tyler there is something that we need to talk to you about," Sam said.

"What's that?" Tyler asked.

"Quil why don't you sit down before we get started," said Emily. Tyler was looking slightly concerned now. He really didn't know what to expect or if the topic that was about to be discussed was bad.

Sam started talking, "Tyler, I'm going to tell you some things that may be really hard to believe, but your just going to have the bare with us until everything is explained. Also, try not to interrupt." Tyler just nodded, and Sam continued. "I'm not going to tell you everything because I would never do the story justice, and it would take even longer to explain. A long time ago the elders of the Quileute tribe acquired a power to shape shift. This power made them able to change into wolves. The reason that they needed this power was because there are vampires roaming the world taking human lives. In wolf form the elders were able to fight fairly with the vampires, making it able for them to protect the tribe. You may have heard stories about all of this, and that is what we all thought they were, stories. That was until about seven years ago when I was the first to change. Then eventually all the decedents of the original pack changed." Sam paused. "So what do you have to say about that?"

Tyler was looking at the three of us. His face was in shock, and it looked like he was looking for one of us to break out laughing. When none of us did his face became even more worried. "Why are you telling me this stuff? Are you trying to freak me out because you don't want me to leave Claire here? Is that what this is all about?" He became more and more tense as he said each word.

"Tyler you have to calm down and listen. We haven't told you everything yet, but we need to make sure that you understand each part. As for why we're telling you, that all will be explained eventually," said Emily

"So all of those legends that the Quileute have are real? All the ones Helen use to tell to Claire and Stephen?" Tyler asked.

"Yes, that's what we're trying to tell you."

"I still don't get why you are telling me this now. Did Helen know the about all of it?"

"She never knew. I had thought about telling her, but when it came down to it I thought it would be better if she didn't know about it all."

"That still doesn't tell me why you are telling all of this to me now."

"Well there is something else we have to tell you about," Sam cut in. "There are things that happen when you transform. Some of the things are not being able to get sick, healing really fast, and living for as long as we so choose, depending on whether or not we transform. There is another thing that happens. It's called imprinting. When you see your soul mate for the first time after transforming, you imprint. Your whole world shifts. Everything that you do revolves around keeping your imprint safe and happy. It has happened to a few of our pack members, me, Jacob, Jared, Paul, Leah, and…Quil."

"I still don't understand why I need to know all of this," said Tyler getting a little frustrated.

"Tyler, when we tell you this you can't freak out. You have to just listen to everything we tell you before you pass any judgments," said Emily.

"Alright."

"Claire has been imprinted on," said Emily. Tyler's face drained of all its color.

Sam cut in, "You have to understand though. The feelings that are there aren't any kind a gross sexual feelings. The feelings that he has are one hundred percent like those of a father's or an older brother's. His feelings will eventually change as time goes on depending on what Claire wants. He will be whatever Claire needs him to be."

"Who is it? Who _imprinted_ on my little Claire?"

"I did," I said for the first time being part of the conversation. Tyler turned to look at me, and he just stared for a few moments. Finally he turned back to look at Sam.

"How can you know for sure that he does not have any bad intentions in this all?" I felt my fists curl up at his words. I really wanted to hit him as hard as I could in the face, but I knew that if I did that he probably would never want me to be anywhere near himself or Claire.

"There is another part of being wolves. When we are transformed we can read one another's thoughts. Right after the imprinting happened I went out with Quil and looked through everything to check it all out." Tyler still looked concerned.

Emily started to talk, "Tyler, when Claire first came back with us after the funeral she barely talked at all. The only words that she said were 'yes' and 'no,' and those were barely said. She would just sit there reading her books. We eventually decided to introduce the pack to her. The first member that she met happened to be Quil. He had an immediate impact on her. She began to talk again. She even had half smiles. Now she'll hold my hand when we go somewhere. Her eyes have become brighter. It isn't like this is a one-way thing. Claire feels something very special between the two of them also. If you try to take her away from him, Quil won't be your only problem."

Tyler shook his head before answering. "I won't do that. I believe in soul mates. I know that Helen was mine. Even if us _normal_ people don't have imprinting I do believe that. I remember Helen telling me that for considering the short time that you two were together she was shocked that Sam was so completely devoted to you. It makes some sense I guess. I guess I should be happy that Claire won't ever have to worry about getting her heart broke a few times before she finds that right one." He laughed a little. "Only six years old and already having someone who will be with her forever."

I grinned _really_ wide. I couldn't help it. I was ecstatic; he wasn't going to try to keep Claire away from me.

"Tyler before all of this happened, the person that we had thought that you could rent from was Quil. He has a big house, and the he only lives in the basement. Would you be okay with Claire living there?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, that sounds fine…hey Quil you could be Claire's nanny if you want. Think about it that would be perfect." Emily smiled a little; I had a feeling that she had been planning on bringing that topic up next.

We went on to decide that I would be taking care of Claire. Tyler would be sending money monthly for rent, things Claire needed, and some money for me. I had a good job, so I didn't need the money take care of Claire and I didn't really want anything for it. But Sam, Emily, and Tyler all agreed that I should be getting some money for taking care of her.

**Thanks AmberGlow2 for the beta work.**


	5. First Day

It had been about two and a half months since Claire and I had first met. Things were going pretty good. We had moved all of Claire's things into the house, and she was getting pretty adjusted to the new living conditions. Claire was starting first grade today, but she wasn't very excited about that.

We had gone shopping and gotten her some clothes and school supplies. I think I would have been willing to buy her whatever she would have asked for especially since her dad sends lots of money for her, but for a six year old she wasn't into toys and clothes. I think that she would however get as many books as possible. We must have spent about two hours in the children book section in Barnes and Noble. By far we spent the most amount of money there.

I was cooking breakfast for her. I wanted to make some of her favorite breakfast foods; hopefully that would distract her a little bit from her first day.

I heard her coming down the hall into the kitchen.  
"Quil, are you really going to make me go today?" she asked.

"Honey do you want me to get in trouble. If you don't go to school I would get yelled at by the school _and_ your dad," I replied.

"Fine I'll go, but I refuse to do any of my homework."

"If you bring it home I will help you with it. That way you'll be that smartest kid in the class," I said with a grin.

"Fine, but once I get done with everything you have to play whatever game I want."

"Now honey, that is something that I can do." I was laughing inside. In reality she knew that I would play whatever game she wanted to whether she did her homework or not; she just liked to be argumentative.

She ate her breakfast, and than she went to change into her school clothes. She eventually came back downstairs.

"Do you have all your school supplies?" I asked her.

"Yup, they're all in my backpack," she said gesturing to her blue backpack.

We went out to the pickup. I helped her buckle into the booster seat. We went to the office to make sure everything was settled since she was a new student. The lady working behind the counter had known me from when I was in high school. She gave me a funny look. There weren't very many people who knew anything about me taking care of Claire. Considering the fact that I was only 20 and taking care of a six year old, I don't blame them for not understanding the situation.

"Claire is going here this year. I believe that someone here has talked to her dad about everything." Tyler had given me all of the rights a parent would have regarding school and medical care.

"Oh yes, I have all of her information here. Her teacher this year will be Miss Jacobson. She is room 12B. If you want to bring Claire down there you can. I don't know if she has all of the information of Claire. If you want you can bring this folder down there for her."

I took the folder, and Claire and I headed out the door. She was holding my hand as we went down the hall. I could tell that she was really nervous. Her palm was sweaty and her breathing was shallow. We got to the classroom door and went inside. There were quite a few parents there dropping off their kids. I walked up to the teacher.

"Hello, and who is this," said Miss Jacobson looking down at Claire who was trying to hide behind my legs.

I pulled Claire in front of me. "This is Claire." I bent down to whisper in Claire's ear. "You should say 'hi' to your new teacher honey. Remember that if you behave today we might can go to the bonfire tonight at Sam and Emily's house, even if it would involve staying up past your bedtime."

She looked at me with a small grin, and whispered, "Fine I'll behave, but not cause I like it here. And we better go tonight."

"I promise," I whispered back.

She looked up at the teacher and said, "Hi."

"Hi," she said in reply. The teacher had been watching our exchange, and of course she was curious. "Are you Claire's dad?" she asked.

"No, I'm take care of her though. I'm Quil. Here's the folder the lady in the office said to give to you."

"Okay, thank you. Claire would you like to see where you will be sitting, and where to put all of your things?" Claire nodded.

The teacher led her across the room to a table where another little girl sat. I heard their conversation from across the room. "Claire I would like you to meet Ana. You two are going to share this table. You can put all of your supplies in there. So, Claire you just moved here right?" Claire nodded. I knew that she still had problems talking to people. Hopefully being around more people would help her become more social. "Do you like it here?" Claire just nodded again. I could tell that Miss Jacobson was trying to get her to talk. "Well what's your favorite thing about living here?"

Claire was quiet for a few second before answering. "Quil."

"What honey?"

"Quil is my favorite part."

I don't think that the teacher really knew how to respond to that. They were quiet for a while as Claire put all of her supplies into her bin.

"Your locker is over here. You are sharing that with Ana as well as the table."

Claire pulled off her jacket and put her backpack and jacket in the locker indicated by Miss Jacobson. Claire started to head my way as the teacher helped someone else get settled in.

"Are you going to really make me stay here today?" she asked. I could see the water building in her eyes.

I crouched down in front of her and gave her a big hug while whispering to her. "Honey, I really don't have a choice. If I let you skip school your dad might get really mad at me." I tried to stay calm on the outside since Claire needed me to be strong, but my insides felt like they were crumbling. I was considering all of the different ways that I might be able to get her out of here without getting in trouble with Tyler. Her face was against my shoulder and I could feel the tears leaking out of her eyes.

Then Miss Jacobson talked above everyone. "It's time for the school day to begin. Say your good byes."

Claire's arms tightened around me for a second before letting go. "I know your right Quil. Can you be here at the end of the day to pick me up?"

"Yup, I'll be waiting in the parking lot for you; I promise." Whenever I confirmed something with a promise Claire always felt better because she would never doubt any of my promises. I gave her one last squeeze before releasing her.

**A/N I would really love some more reviews. It makes me sad that I only have few reviews. :)**


	6. She's Not Angry?

Currently Seth was not very happy with me. We had been on patrol together today, and I had been worried about how Claire was the whole day, so that's what my thoughts had been on about 97 of the time.

As soon as I done with patrol I showered, and then drove to Claire's school. When I got there, there were still a few minutes left before she would be let out.

Finally I heard the bell ring and kids started filing out of the school. I could see Claire. She was one of the people who at the front of the crowd. As soon as she saw my pick-up she ran towards it. I got out and opened the door for her.

"Hey there honey. How was your first day of school?" I asked.

She shrugged. "It was fine. We took a test today to see how much we knew about adding and subtracting. I don't think most of the kids knew what it was about, but Miss Jacobson said that was okay because that was one of the things she was planning on teaching us. We also had to take test on reading to see how many different words each of us knew."

"Did you make any friends?"

"No. Some the people were loud, and they didn't always listen to what the teacher was saying."

"Don't you want to have friends at school? I'm sure that going there would be easier for you if you had some people to talk to." Claire just shrugged; she didn't seem convinced. I realized that I wasn't gong to be able to change her mind, so I might as well change the subject. "Do have any homework tonight?"

"Yeah, we're suppose to read with an adult, and then have them sign something saying that we read."

"That doesn't sound like it would be something that you should have any trouble with." Unlike some parents who read to their children before going to bed, Claire usually ended up reading to me. Sometimes it would be a long book, sometimes it would be a short book, but overall we usually read her favorite book. It was the story about the little girl and the wolves that helped her to survive.

Claire was looking out the window of the pick up humming.

"Do you want to go home first and do your homework, then go to Sam and Emily's for the bonfire, or do you want to go to Sam and Emily's, then leave early to do your homework?" I asked.

"Let's go home first."

"As you wish." She giggled at my reference to Princess Bride.

When we got home Claire dashed into the house, dropped her backpack in a chair, and ran up to her room. "Claire you better change into warm clothes, and then pick a book out to read. The faster you do that the sooner we can leave," I yelled up the stairs.

"Alright," she yelled back down the stairs.

I went over to her backpack pulling out her three-ring binder. There was a letter in it from the teacher to all of the parents/guardians.

_Dear Parents/Guardians, _

_Today all of your children took test. These tests will tell us how much your child remembers from kindergarten. It is not expected that they remember much. We do this to get the basic level that everyone is at right now. It will also show us if there might be any students who may need extra help this year, after we compare last year's tests with this year's tests._

_I want to remind you all how important it is that you make sure that your child comes to school as often as possible. Right now they are building the basics to their next 12 years of school. It may be hard for you all to think that far ahead right now; I'm sure that most of you don't even want to think about how your child will be as a teenager. I just want to remind you that the more you make sure they are getting the education that they need now, the more likely they will be well educated in the future. If they are pushed to attend school everyday now they are more likely to be willing to come to school when they are older._

_Right now there will not be very much homework for your child. Since it is the beginning of the year we will start off slow and slowly build up to. As of now your child will be expected to read something every night. The things that they read don't have to be hard words. There is a list attached with words that they should have learned in kindergarten. If you want to you can just have them read this. Even though you may think that you're helping them don't let them skip over words! You can tell them what the word is if they can't figure it out, but they should try and be able to recognize that word in the future. Don't worry if you think your child isn't at the reading level that they are supposed to be at. (They're going to school to learn these things.)_

_We have a very exciting year ahead of us. I can't wait to get to know you and your children!_

_Miss Jacobson_

I looked at the other things in the binder. The list of words was far below Clair's reading level. There was also a sheet that was separated into columns. The first column had date written on the top, the second had title; the third had author, and the fourth said parent's signature.

Claire came prancing into the kitchen wearing a sweater that she hadn't had on before. She immediately went to her bag a pulled out a book. "Quil let's read this one!"

It wasn't one that I recognized. "Where is that book from?"

She got an excited grin on her face. "The library. We got to go there for a few minutes today. They have a ton of books there that I have never read before. I can't wait until tomorrow. If I get to school early they said that we could go look in the library in the morning."

"That's great honey." Maybe we wouldn't have to spend a fortune buying books for her than if they have lots of books at the school's library. We finished the book that she had grabbed from her backpack. Then she filled out the information on the sheet, and I signed. Finally we could head off to Sam and Emily's.

The closer that we got the more nervous I became. I had talked to Sam about it, and finally got him to agree to let me tell Claire. I wanted to tell Claire about werewolves soon because if I waited to long she might be upset with me for not telling her. Although I wasn't completely ready to explain imprinting to her, she would find out a lot of the information.

As I was pulling into Sam's driveway Claire asked, "Quil are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said trying my best to act casual.

"You don't seem fine. You seem upset." A frown crossed her face. "Did I do something wrong?" she asked me.

"No! Of course you didn't. There's just some stuff that you might hear tonight, and I'm worried about what you're going to say."

"Quil it doesn't matter what happens; I will never be able to be mad at you for anything. You made everything good and whole when things were bad." She leaned over and gave me hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then she hopped out and ran up to the house. I got out slower than she did. I hadn't realized that she was feeling whole and happy again like she had before her mom had died.

When we finished supper at Sam and Emily's we headed out to the cliffs overlooking the Pacific. Earlier that day some of the boys had gotten some wood and set up a fire pit. They had also had grabbed some larger logs that we could sit on.

Only some of the pack had come out tonight because there was a party down on first beach, and the boys were there to supervise. I'm pretty sure that they were planning on being part of the activities.

When we got up there we all got settled in; Claire was sitting on my lap with a blanket over her lap. It was pretty cool up here especially with the wind and I didn't want her getting cold. Since Old Quil wasn't here anymore it was Sam's duty to pass on the legends. He told all of the stories including the more recent ones, but the way he told them made it sound like it had happened as long ago as everything else. Through the stories Claire became very relaxed. A few times I actually thought that she had been sleeping, but her eyes had been wide open the whole time.

After Sam finished his story we walked back through the woods. I was carrying Claire because I was pretty sure that if I didn't she would topple over from exhaustion. The pack was spread out. They all knew that I was planning on explaining things to Claire.

"Quil, that was even better than when mom use to tell me," she whispered into my ear.

"Well honey I'm glad you liked that." I was actually considering not telling her tonight when she whispered into my ear again.

"What were you so nervous about earlier, Quil?"

There was no getting around Claire. "There are a few important things that I want to tell you tonight."

"What."

"The thing I'm going to tell you are secrets. You can't talk to anyone about it unless they already know about it, okay."

"Alright, I promise I won't tell."

"All of those stories are real."

"You mean that there are real people who can be wolves?" I nodded. "Where are they? Can I meet them? Can I talk to them?" She looked wide awake now.

"You have already met them."

"Who?" she asked, her eyes were filled with wonder.

"Me, and Sam, and Embry, and Seth, and Brady. All of those big guys around here." I was waiting for her to become angry and upset, but it didn't happen.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"I was scared that you would be scared of me then."  
"Thank you for telling me."

"Claire I also wanted to tell you that because I'm part wolf I have this thing in me that tells me when there is someone special who has come into my life. When I met you I knew that you were going to be very special to me."

"So is the reason that you're taking care of me because you are a werewolf? You wouldn't be otherwise if you had been normal?" Her voice had become upset. I'm sure that she was feeling unwanted.

"Claire if I had been _normal_ I'm sure that I would have eventually realized how special you were. The only difference here is that I knew right away. Claire it made me see how truly special you would be."

"I see. Does my dad know about all of this?"

"Yeah, we told him about it when he came to visit you earlier in the summer."

"He got to know before I did. That's not fair!"

"Well life isn't fair, and you'll just have to deal with it.  
I walked for a while in silence. Finally Claire started talking again. "Can I see you as a wolf?"  
"No!" Her acceptance me being a werewolf was one thing, but actually wanting to see was something completely different. I'm sure that if she were to see me in my wolf form she would be terrified of me.

"I really want to see you. Please?"

"It isn't safe. You could get hurt." I didn't want to tell her my real reason for not letting her see me. I knew that I would do everything in my power to keep her safe. I also knew that when Sam had mauled Emily he didn't have full control of shifting, unlike how we were now with a few years of practice.

"Quil I want to see you so much. I bet you look wonderful!" Her voice got excited as she contemplated how I would look as a wolf.

"Claire for now you'll just have to trust me on saying that it's a bad idea. Maybe someday when your older you might get to see me as a wolf, but not anytime soon."

"Fine," she said, sounding really disappointed.

We walked the rest of the way back in silence. On the way home Claire fell asleep. It was about an hour past her normal bedtime so I wasn't surprised. I carried her into the house when we got home. She woke up slightly as I carried her, and I heard her whisper. "Don't worry Quil; I'm not mad at you."

My heart felt so much lighter at her words. It was as if she had known that the whole way back I had been thinking about her being mad at me for telling her 'no'. Every once in a while I would start thinking about how Claire and I might not truly be meant for each other. In my heart of hearts I knew that I were destined to be together, but it always helped to know that she understood me well enough to tell was I was worried about something. Oh, how special my Claire is.

**A/N Please review!!**


	7. The Meeting

**A/N I wanted to mention that Quil does patrol every other day while Claire's in school. On the other days when he's not patrolling he works at a car sales place in Forks.**

Claire wasn't having a good time in school. I kept trying to get her to talk to kids, but the ones that she did talk to she didn't like because they were mean. She thought that since those ones were mean they all were mean. I knew that she love to talk when we were alone or with people from the pack, but I think that she should be with people closer to her own age. Sometimes she played with Malena, Jacob and Kaira's daughter, but Malena was only four. Claire didn't mind playing with her, but I think that she got bored with it.

I went to pick up Claire from school; as usual she was one of the first people coming out of the school's doors. She ran to the pick-up and jumped in. I didn't even bother asking her how her day went since I already knew that she hated going to school. I really wanted to do something about her school that would make her happy. I was constantly trying to figure out a way that she could go to school and be happy at the same time, but I hadn't come up with anything yet.

"Did you find any good books at the library today?" I knew that this was always one topic that she would happily talk about when it came to school.

"Yeah. I got a new one about wolves." Since last week when she found out about werewolves she had been reading a lot about wolves. She wanted to know our habits; I think that she wanted to find out anything there is to know about them because it made her feel closer to the pack.

When we got home Claire dropped her bag on the floor. She grabbed a book from her bag and then went up to her room. It had became a routine that everyday that she came home from school, go up to her room, and read whatever new book that she had checked out. She would come down and eat supper, and then afterwards at the kitchen table she would do her homework. I would usually do the dishes while she did it because she never needed any help. After that we would usually play some kind of a game, go on a walk, or something like that.

I went through her backpack that she had dropped on the floor since she usually forgot to give me things that the teacher gave her for the parents to read. Usually they have a just a piece of paper for all of the parents. Today there was an envelope that had Quil Ateara written across the front. I opened it up, and there was a short letter inside.

_Dear Quil,_

_I would very much appreciate it if you were to come in and talk to me about Claire. Please call me at 123-456-7890, so we can set up a meeting after school. I stay after everyday until about 4 o'clock._

_Thank you,_

_Miss Jacobson_

I was worried. Why would she send this letter home to just Claire and not any of the other kids? Had she done something wrong? I didn't want to say anything to Claire about it though, in case I looked upset. Sometimes when I am upset Claire thinks that it's her fault. She would for sure think that if I start asking about the letter that was sent home.

I looked at the clock it was 3:45; Miss Jacobson would still be there. I went and grabbed the phone and dialed her number. It rang quite a few times. I was beginning to worry that she had left early today; finally she picked up.

"Hello."

"Hi. Miss Jacobson?"

"Yes, that's me. How can I help you?"

"This is Quil Ateara. I just read the letter you sent home with Claire."

"Oh, do you have a day that you could come in after school to talk to me?"

"Well, I can tomorrow after school I can bring Claire to her Aunt Emily's, and then I can come back in, if that's fine."

"Yeah, that sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

I hung up and than dialed Sam's home number.

"Hey Quil, what's up?" said Emily.

"Hi. I was wondering if it was normal for parents to go in for meetings only after a week of school?"

"I don't know Quil. What's going on?"

"I got a letter from Claire's teacher asking for a meeting with me about Claire. I just called her and I'm meeting with her tomorrow after school."

"Well normally I don't think teachers meet with parents this soon in the year, but maybe something happened. Have you asked Claire about it?"

"No, I don't want to get her upset."

"Well than you're just going to have to wait and see what she says."

"I guess you're right. Oh, I almost forgot. Are you busy tomorrow night?"

"No."

"Can Claire be there while I'm having the meeting with Miss Jacobson?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Thanks a ton."

"No problem."

"See you tomorrow."

"Bye."

I hung up, and started getting supper ready. Tonight we were having steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, and peaches. I hate to admit this, but I know how to cook. When I was younger I was a bit of a mama's boy; one of the things I learned to do when I was younger with my mom was cook. When I moved out into my own house I still cooked for myself part of the time. Before Claire came I cooked about 1/3 of the time, and the other 2/3 was spent eating at Sam's. Now that Claire was living here we usually ate here on school nights so she would get enough sleep. On the weekends we usually ate at Sam and Emily's, since we usually did things with the pack on weekends.

At super we ate and Claire chattered like normal. It was usually about what new book she was reading, or what interesting facts that she found out that day.

Finally I couldn't take it any more, I had to try and find out what was going on. "Claire tomorrow after school I have a meeting with your teacher. Emily said that it's fine if I bring you to their house while I'm at the meeting."

"Okay. Do you have to have the meeting with Miss Jacobson because I'm in trouble?"

"Have you done anything to get in trouble for?"

"No."

"Then that's your answer." I felt a tiny bit relieved. At least Claire didn't think that she did anything wrong.

After super and homework Clair wanted to watch a movie, so we ended up watching The Lion King. Claire made it through half the movie before falling asleep. I didn't feel like watching the rest, so I carried Claire up to bed. I tried to sleep that night, but I couldn't because I couldn't stop worrying about the meeting that I was going to the next day.

The whole next day while I was working I couldn't quit worrying, and I was really distracted. Finally I was done, and it was time to pick up Claire. I went and got her, and dropped her off at Emily's. Then I went back to the school.

Miss Jacobson was waiting in her room. "Hello."

"Hi, Quil. How are you today?" she asked.

"I guess I'm alright."

"Why don't we sit down until the principle gets here?"

"Why is the principle coming down here?"

"Oh, don't worry. It isn't anything bad; we'll explain once she's down here." Her consolation didn't help. I'm really glad that I didn't know that the principle would be meeting with us also. I would have been even more of wreck if I would have known that.

I kept my ears peeled, and finally I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. That must be her because I hadn't heard anyone else walking down here. Then there was a knock on the door before the principle came in.

"Joyce this is Quil, Claire's guardian, and Quil this is Joyce Backland our principle," said Miss Jacobson.

"Hello," I said shaking her hand.

"Hi," she said in return.

"Let's all sit down," Miss Jacobson said.

"Quil we brought you in here to discuss the Claire's results on the tests the students did at the beginning of the year."

"What was wrong with them?" I asked.

"Nothing was wrong with them. It's actually the opposite. She did extremely well on them," answered Ms. Backland.

"Then what's the problem?"

"After she did so well on those test we had her take some more advanced tests. She is far above the level of her peers."

"That's what this is about? You realized how smart she is?"

"Yes, and we were wondering if you were interested in having her put in an accelerated program. We do have programs here that are for fast learners, but that will only last so long. She is approximately at the level of a third or forth grader. We aren't quite sure yet because we have not tested everything. It will take a year or two for her to finish the programs we have here, but after that we wanted you to consider having her enrolled in a private school," said Miss Jacobson

"I know that sounds bad coming from a public school principle, but we want our students to achieve whatever they possibly can. So, being honest with you, we have to tell you that a private school will have programs better equipped for her. If we put her in the class that matches the level that she's at right now here she would feel very out of place. At least in a private school there are more likely to be students at her level closer to her age," Ms. Backland.

"Since the first week of school when I would hand out worksheets Claire would pull out a book just a few minutes after I handed it out. I decided that I would just let her read and when she handed in an unfinished worksheet I could talk to her about it then. Well much to my surprise, when everyone handed in their worksheets she had the best score. It took her about a half an hour less to do it. She ends up with a bunch of time where she's doing nothing because she understands everything," said Miss Jacobson.

"When student get bored in school because there is nothing to do they may begin to resent having to come here. So, it may be best if we do something about it right away," said Ms. Backland.

"I think that it would be a great idea for her to do an accelerated program, but I'm going to have to talk to Claire and her dad about this before any final decisions are made."

"That's fine. You can call me anytime during school hours. Keep in mind that the sooner Claire is able to get into the accelerated program the easier it will for her catch up with others in the program."

"I probably call you by the end of the week if that's fine?"

"That sounds great." We all stood up. "It was nice meeting with you Quil."

"Yeah, you too." I shook hands with Ms. Backland and than with Miss Jacobson, and then I left.

I went to Sam's to pick Claire up. I walked into the house, and Claire came running at me. She launched into my arms giving me a big hug. I hugged her back and whispered into her ear. "Did you do all of your homework?"

"Yup, and Emily told me a secret."

"Really? What's the secret?"

"She said I can't tell _anyone_ until supper. Oh yeah, she said that me and you should stay for supper."

"We can if you want to."

"Great. What did my teacher want to talk to you about?" she said with concern etched on her face.

"She wanted to tell me how smart you are. She thinks that you should go into some harder classes."

"Am I going to?"

"Only if you want to."

"Yeah, I do. I like Miss Jacobson, but I just sit there all day because things are so easy."

"Well I'm going to call your dad, and than we should be able to get you into those classes."

Emily came into the living room. "Are you guys going to stay for supper?"

"Yup," Claire answered. "Can I help you finish making things?"

"Sure Hun, come on," Emily said smiling motioning Claire to follow her into the kitchen.

I went down into their basement. Sam, Embry, Brady and Collin were down there. "Oh good, your here so the little monster will leave us alone," said Embry.

"To bad for you cause Emily asked us to stay for supper. Besides, what's Claire ever done to you?" I asked.

"For one thing she's smarter than him, and he doesn't like it when she rubs it into his face," answered Sam. Collin, Brady, and I laughed and Embry glared at us.

"Where have you been, Quil," asked Brady, "I haven't seen you around in a long time. What happened to the parties we had planned on going?"

"I'm taking care of Claire, Brady. Besides the only reason that I ever went to those parties is because I wanted to find a girl, and now that I have found I girl I don't need to go look for one."

"But she's six. It's not like you two will be doing anything anytime soon," Collin broke in.

"Well it's not like I'm getting any older. I can wait until the end of time if it comes to that. I just have to be patient."

"I don't know if I could do that man. I mean the only girl that you will like ever is only six right now. You don't pay any attention to any other girls. That would just be weird," said Brady.

"Neither of you have imprinted. Even though you can see into our heads you won't know what it's really like until it happens to you. Than you'll understand it better," said Sam.

Then the door coming down to the basement opened. "Guys it's time for supper," said Emily yelling down the stairs.

"Coming," Sam yelled back.

We went upstairs, and started shoveling food onto our plates. Today Emily had made lasagna. We all sat down at the table and dug into our food. Claire was sitting next to me while we ate.

"Quil do you like it?" she asked me.

"Yeah it's great!" I said enthusiastically.

"I helped make it."

"Really! What did you do?"

"I put the garlic and all that stuff on the bread. I also helped Aunt Emily put all of the noodles and sauce and that stuff in the pan."

"Well it taste even better than normal, and you didn't even get sauce on your clothes. It must be because your such a good cook," I said. I could hear Embry chuckle under his breath, but I ignored him.

"Emily can I tell them?" Claire asked.

"Yeah, you can."

"I'm going to get to be a cousin!" she said excitedly. Everyone was frozen for a second and then Embry, Collin, and Brady's mouths fell open, along with my own.

Sam jumped up from his chair. "What?" he asked looking at Emily. She looked at him with a grin on her face and nodded. Sam pulled Emily out of her chair and wrapped his arms around her. I could hear him whispering quietly in her ear, "I'm going to be a dad, I'm going to be a dad," over and over again. Eventually everyone calmed down, and Sam and Emily sat back down.

"Oh, Quil I forgot all about your meeting. How did that go?"

"It wasn't anything bad like I had thought that it would be. They actually wanted to talk to me because Claire is so smart."

"Seriously, why did you have to go there; was Claire in trouble?" Collin asked skeptically.

"I am serious. She took some tests and did really well on them. The principle said that for now we can put her in some advanced classes now, but eventually she might have to go to a private school." Everyone at the table looked impressed.

"Well who knew that we had a genius among us?" said Embry joking.

"Brady your just jealous because you aren't smart like me," said Claire. Everyone but Embry laughed at her comment. We kept making fun of Embry all of the way through dinner, and than we left afterwards because it was late and Claire had school the next day.

I called Tyler after Claire had gone to sleep. He was still awake even though it was about midnight there. I told him everything that the teacher had said and he agreed that she should take all of the advanced classes that she could. This was the first night that I was able to go to sleep happy and content.

**Please Review :)**


	8. Running

**I'm really sorry I haven't updated for ages and ages, but I have been really struggling with how I was going to write certain parts. I also have had problems thinking of filler for what was going on between the last chapter and this chapter happened. Finally I came to the conclusion that I would just skip ahead a few years and post this chapter. Right now Claire is 12 and it's the end of July in the summer before 7****th**** grade. She will be attending the private school in Port Angeles. She has been going to private school since 4****th**** grade. I don't own any of this stuff.  
**

Why was my phone ringing? Ugh, it was so annoying; there wasn't anyone who would be calling. Without opening my eyes I reached out to the nightstand, and opened my phone bringing it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Quil, it's me," said Claire on the other end. My eyes flew open instantly, and I looked over at the clock. It was only 11 o'clock.

"What's up? I thought I wasn't supposed to pick you up until two."

"I know, but I really want to come home." There was pleading in her voice, begging me not to ask her more right now.

"Hun I'll be there in a few minutes."

I pulled into Kayla's driveway, and before I even opened up my door she was out of the house and halfway to the pickup. Something must be seriously up; normally I had to practically drag her out of Kayla's house. She jumped into the passenger seat, and she looked as if she was about to cry. I pulled her into the middle seat, and put my arm around her.

"What's up Claire?"

"Can it wait until we get home?"

"Sure, whatever you want."

I drove home, and the whole way there Claire had her head against my shoulder she would occasionally sniffle, but she didn't say a word. When we got to the house I grabbed her bag and she ran straight for the house. I dropped her bag when I got into the house and then I went and sat on the couch next to her. She crawled into my lap clutching a pillow to her chest. When she was younger and had nightmares she would do this, but it was something she hadn't done for a long time.

"Quil, my dad called me this morning."

Claire and Tyler had a strained relationship, but Claire did her best to make it seem as if she didn't mind. It was Tyler's fault that it was so horrible. He came to see Claire about twice a year; otherwise he was in New York, Chicago, or LA. Claire usually called him at least every other week, but Tyler never called unless it was to say that he wasn't going to come home for Christmas or something like that.

"What did he say?"

"He's going to be here for my birthday in September for about a week." She paused, and I didn't want to interrupt knowing that there would be more that just that since this news would normally make her happy. "He said that he's going to bring a friend of his and that she is really looking forward to meeting me." She quit talking, and tears were rolling down her face. At first when Tyler would come home Claire would want to talk about her mom with him, but he downright refused. I think that he may have loved her a lot, and he didn't really want to deal with the fact that she wasn't there anymore so he just quit talking about Helen. Claire had a really hard time with this because her dad was the only other person who knew her mom really well, so she didn't really have anyone to reminisce with about Helen.

"Did you ask him about his friend at all?" I asked.

Claire nodded, "I asked him why anyone of his friends would want to meet me since I've never met anyone before. He said that she was something special, and since she was going to be such a big part of his life she would be a big part of my life." At this point she chucked the pillow that she had been holding across the room. "I hung up on him then; I just couldn't stand listening to him anymore. When he said all of it he acted as if he calls and checks on me all of the time. Like he makes sure I'm happy, not that the only thing that he does is send money here once a month."

"Claire maybe this is a good thing. Maybe this new person will get him to come see you more and take more interest in you. Wouldn't it make you happy if he lived here with you?" I hated saying that because if Tyler moved back her that would mean that I probably wouldn't be able to see Claire very often, and apparently Claire thought the same thing.

"Quil, I don't want him here. He would try to be my dad when he's not really. You aren't my dad, but you do a better job than anyone else ever could. You're more like my best friend and conscious rolled into one." I smiled, happy that Claire was happy with the way our lives were.

"We can wait to see what happens, but when they come if you really can't stand being around this person that he's bringing we can find some way for you to avoid being home. I know it will cut away from the time you have with our dad, but it might be better this way if being with your dad also means being with this lady."

"Okay, thanks, I knew that you would find some way to make this all better. Oh shoot, I better go call Kayla. I didn't really give her explanation. She was there when he called and she knew that I was upset, but I couldn't really talk to anyone at the time," Claire said. She ran up stairs to call Kayla, and I went to get lunch started.

Later when Claire came back down from calling Kayla she looked unhappy.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"Kayla is going to be in volleyball this year since we can actually play in junior high sports, but I don't want to do that."

"Well then you don't have to."

"But I want to be in some type of sport."

"Well there's football in the fall. I don't know if you would want to be in that, you're always complaining when Collin or Brady want to wrestle with you."

"That's not fair Collin and Brady are like a foot and a half taller than me and they have super human strength."

"So does that mean you are or are not doing football?"

"I don't think I want to do a sport where you just go back and forth back and forth."

"There is more than just going back and forth to football you know."

"I know, I know, but it just seems so pointless to me. I want to do something else."

"Oh, I forgot about cross country, you could always do that."

"Not the greatest fan of running, but it sounds like something I could do," Claire said with a grin.

"Do you want to start running before practice starts?" I asked her.

"That's probably a good idea, but who would I run with?"

"Claire, come on, your look at a werewolf that can run for miles and miles and miles without getting tired."

"But if I run with you I'm going to get tired right away."

"I am capable of doing things at boring old human speed. I do have to normally put on a slow show for people, and it's not like I would try to get you to run like five miles on you first day of practice."

"We are not going to run five miles ever!"

"How can you say that what if you get really good, and run like 12 miles a day?"

"Sure," she said skeptically.

The next morning I woke up at 6:30, and then I went to wake Claire up. "It's time to wake up now," I told her.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"Six thirty."

"Why in the world would I wake up this early if I don't have school?"

"You have to start practicing for cross country."

"I changed my mind; I don't want to do that anymore."

"Nope, you better be up in five minutes because I'll be caring up the bucket of ice then."

"You do realize that this will make me hate you, right?"

"Nuh ah, after this is all said and done you'll find out how right I am." I left her room then knowing that she would wake up. She wouldn't doubt the bucket of ice threat because when she started fifth grade she had decided that she shouldn't have to get up to go to school, and for a couple of weeks that was how I was waking her up in the morning.

She came down the stairs five minutes later wearing a hooded sweater and sweat pants looking exhausted.

"Do you want to eat first or run first?"

"Let's just get this over with."

"Alright."

We walked out the door. There was a light drizzle falling. "I can't believe that you're making me run in this weather, and I can't believe all your wearing is shorts."

"It's werewolf heat. I feel nice and toasty."

"Way to rub it in my face jerk," said Claire and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Let's get going." We started running at a slow pace. Claire was not in the talking mood. She looked as if she was concentrating on not falling asleep. We ran down the trails behind the house, but we took the short loop so it wouldn't be a long run. When we got back into the yard Claire looked as if she was about to fall over, I picked her up and carried her into the house.

"So, how was your first run?"

"Awful. Are you going to make me do that every morning?"

"It's the only way that you'll get use to it. Besides after a week one mile will be no big deal."

"You better hope that's the case, cause if I end up dyeing do this you'll be one unhappy werewolf."

"Trust me I'd be more than just unhappy. That's why you have practice a ton and get good so you can run miles and miles without being even close to dyeing."

"Let's have breakfast, so than I can go back to sleep."

I set her on the couch and made our breakfast. I had to wake her up to eat, and after she finished eating she insisted on going back to sleep on the couch with her head on my lap while I watched some T.V.

**Please Review**

**P.S. Does anyone have any good book suggestions. I'm trying to make a list of books I want for Christmas.  
**


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